


The Second Night

by orphan_account



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-22
Updated: 2014-01-22
Packaged: 2018-01-09 14:31:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1147100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a sort-of sequel to another story I wrote, "Bleed," and is probably a bit happier than the actual second night of Ned and Catelyn's marriage would have been, but whatever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Second Night

Catelyn Tully – no, Catelyn _Stark_ – sat on her bed in Riverrun, dressed in her shift, her hair unbound, her legs tucked underneath her, as she had countless times before in her childhood and girlhood. Except since last night, and until tomorrow morning, the room was not hers alone, but shared with the husband she could scarce believe had so recently made her his. Lord Eddard, also dressed for bed, was sitting in the chair at her dressing table, a letter in his hands that he was not reading, and he looked as uncomfortable and lonely as Catelyn had ever seen him.

 _Poor man,_ she thought, looking at her husband. He had lost his sister and father and brother so quickly, and now when he was about to go to war to avenge them, he could not have even the small comfort of spending his last night in his own home, his own bed. She did not know Lord Eddard very well yet, but she had been assured many times that he was a good man, and he had been kind and considerate to her in the time they had spent together. And she couldn’t help feeling a wave of compassion for the young man who’d just had nearly unbearable burdens thrust upon his shoulders, who was determined to be worthy of the life he’d never meant to live.

As Lord Eddard folded and unfolded his letter yet again, Catelyn decided that she would do the best that she could to give him a night he could take with him as he rode into battle and away from the comforts of a home.

“What news does your letter bring, my lord?” she asked, knowing perfectly well that he had received it long before.

“No news, Lady Catelyn,” he said quietly. “It is the letter your lord father sent me last week, to tell me that he consented to let me marry you in Brandon’s place.”

“I am glad that he did,” she assured him, “although I am sorry that Brandon…”

“Once we were a family of six: my father and mother, their three strong sons and one impetuous daughter.” He signed. “And now we are just Benjen and I.”

“And Lyanna,” Catelyn reminded him. “She still lives, my lord. Are you not fighting – did you and Lord Arryn not marry me and Lysa – to recover your sister?”

“Aye,” Lord Eddard agreed. “But even should we rescue Lyanna from the Dragon Prince, and bring her home, she will not come home as my little sister, the daughter of Winterfell. She shall be Robert’s wife, the Lady of Storm's End, and it shall still be just Benjen and I.”

“And I,” Catelyn said gently. “I am a Stark, too, now, and I will live with you and be your wife in Winterfell.” He looked back at her with solemn grey eyes and nodded.

“Thank you for reminding me, my lady,” he replied softly. Catelyn knew that it was hollow, knew that a bride of two days could not compare to a sister of sixteen years, but she appreciated it all the same.

“Of course, Lord Eddard,” she told him. “I shall be your wife, and we shall have many children, and you will not be alone in Winterfell, I promise.” Catelyn smiled at this sad, lonely boy who was her husband. “Now come to bed, my lord. There will be time enough yet to sit up thinking on your family.” As Lord Eddard turned to her and obediently walked over to the bed, she was determined anew that her young husband would leave her with at least one fond memory of comfort freely given by a person who still lived.

She reached for him as he stood, uncertain, at the edge of the bed, pulling him into it with her, and placed her arm tentatively about his waist. After his gentleness and concern on their wedding night, Catelyn was not worried that she would find it unpleasant to have Lord Eddard bed her again, but she was a little worried that he would not try. Even besides, she wanted to give him something, not to force him to take it from her – but, then, she had little experience pleasing men, and what little she had, really, had been with Brandon. Lord Eddard surely would not wish to be reminded of his dead brother while lying in his wife’s arms. So for now she did nothing but sit with him, her arm around him, her head coming to rest on his shoulder. And only a few moments passed before his arm came around her, holding her close to him in the semi-darkness.

“What would you like me to do for you, my lord?” Catelyn whispered into his neck.

“You do not need to do anything, my lady,” he whispered in return.

“But you are leaving in the morning,” she reminded him, “and I have no way of knowing when you will return.” _If you even do return_. “This will likely be the last night for many nights that you sleep in a proper bed.” Catelyn drew in a breath, and added, “I would give you something to remember me by.” She did not want him to remember her by their wedding night, not when he had made it blatantly obvious that he had spent it terrified of causing her pain. 

“And perhaps I might do the same,” Lord Eddard agreed, rubbing her back lightly. Catelyn knew he meant a child, but still she considered for a moment how she would remember lying with her husband, and was somewhat surprised to realize it was, so far, rather a pleasant thought.

“So how would you like to remember your wife, my husband?” she asked. He responded by kissing her, slow at first but deeper and harder as she wrapped her arms around him. Finally, just when she was expecting him to lay her down and climb atop her, he surprised her by lying back himself and bringing her to lie astride him. Catelyn was confused for a moment, but then she remembered how it had felt the night before, to have Lord Eddard’s body over hers, even after he’d stopped moving. He’d been heavy and solid and warm, and it had been rather comforting, she realized, so she steadied herself on top of her husband and leaned in to kiss his neck.

He moaned slightly at the touch of her lips, and she felt his palms move to grip her bottom. Without making a sound, Catelyn trailed her mouth along his neck and up his chin until they were kissing again, more passionately this time, her hips moving involuntarily over his.

“Lady Catelyn,” he gasped, pulling away for a breath, and though Catelyn wanted to laugh at the use of such a formal title in such an intimate moment, she recognized the hypocrisy of that impulse.

“Mmm?” she offered in response as she ground her hips against the heated bulge in Lord Eddard’s smallclothes. The contact sent sharp stabs of pleasure and _want_ through her, and she shivered. He whimpered and bucked his hips toward her, his grip on her bottom tightening. She smiled, shyly, down at him and caught at the hem of his shirt, sliding her hands inside to touch his skin, wanting more than anything to drive the sadness out of his eyes.

“We can…like this?” Catelyn asked tentatively. Lord Eddard’s eyes widened and he nodded, reluctantly removing his hands from her bottom so that he could shed his remaining clothing. She matched him by pulling her shift over her head and flushed at his admiring gaze.

“You are beautiful, Lady Catelyn,” he said softly. Catelyn smiled.

“I am your wife, my lord. You might call me by my name.” She paused. “My family usually prefers to call me ‘Cat.’” Then she leaned in to kiss him some more, a storminess that called out to him building inside her. His hips started thrusting against her again and it was more intense this time, with nothing between them.

“L…Eddard?” she said – if she asked him to call her by her name she might as well reciprocate – when she broke the kiss. “You are…that is, we are…ready?” Even as he started to nod, she reached down between them, found his cock, and, fumbling slightly, managed to guide it between her legs. His head fell back against the pillow with a low, relieved moan as she pushed him into her and slowly moved her hands back to his shoulders, pressing her fingers into the hard muscles she found there.

She was still a little sore from her wedding night, but even still Catelyn realized that there was no fresh pain – it did not hurt to put him inside her body; in fact, she felt an oddly satisfying twinge of fullness and completion, and the fear she had not even wanted to admit to herself began to dissipate.

Eddard was restless beneath her, biting his lip, his hands ghosting over her hips but otherwise not moving. She knew he wanted her to move, but she was not quite sure how – it had seemed so natural and instinctive last night, but now, one night removed from maidenhood and lying astride her husband, Catelyn was somewhat at a loss. Carefully, slowly, she began to roll her hips in a circle, and Eddard moaned again and held her hips more firmly. As she gained confidence – and started to grow tired – she allowed him to guide her into an up-and-down motion that he clearly enjoyed.

It was pleasant enough, the feel of him moving in and out of her, and if she didn’t enjoy it as much as her husband did, every so often his cock brushed against her body in a way that made her catch her breath and gave her a hint of why otherwise sensible people lost their heads for this act. And watching him enjoy her was a kind of pleasure in itself, she reflected as she looked at his face and heard the soft cries that escaped his lips. So she summoned her strength and began to move of her own accord again, faster and harder in time with Eddard’s moans, until finally he tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and almost sobbed, clinging to her so hard she was sure to spend the next few days with fingertip-shaped bruises on her hips.

Catelyn smiled as his whole body seemed to melt into the bed, feeling a rush of joy and pride at her ability to make her husband relax and forget, for a moment, the desperation of his position. Impulsively, she bent and kissed his brow, now damp with sweat but she did not mind, before carefully separating their bodies and lying on the bed at his side.

“I did not hurt you tonight, my lady?” Eddard asked once he had caught his breath, and Catelyn held back her chuckle.

“No, Eddard, you did not. It was nice,” she told him, but he still frowned.

“And did you…?”

“Did I what?” He blushed.

“Did you…did you find your pleasure, Catelyn?” She blushed and considered.

“Not the way that you did, my lord, but that is fine. I will spend the next days and months safe and comfortable in my own home” – _as long as the fighting does not get too close_ – “and as I told you, tonight I had hoped to please you, that your time away might be spent with a pleasant memory.” It was his turn to blush now, and Catelyn felt a pang of affection for him as he did.

“And of course you succeeded, my lady. Truly, I am a glad man to have you for a wife. But if I may be so bold…tonight is not yet over, and there are other memories of my bride that I might like to have.” Without further comment, he leaned towards her and placed his mouth over her right breast. Before she had time even to process what he’d done, she felt him suck firmly on her nipple and she heard herself cry out at the exquisite sensation. As he continued to suckle, Eddard’s hand found its way between her thighs, and Catelyn felt the intermittent storminess build inside her again, only this time it crashed over his fingers in a way that left her gasping and pushing herself against his hand, still moving gently against her.

“As much as I enjoyed our coupling,” he whispered when she opened her eyes, “I think it is your face just now that I will most want to think of on cold nights in camp.”

She made no reply but rested her hand on his firm abdomen when he returned to lie beside her, and found herself hoping that he would not be away from her so many nights.


End file.
